GEMI The Goldbach Electronic Media Index (GEMI) shows the indexed development of advertising pressure for various electronic media in comparison to the market as a whole and only shows a limited upward trend in February. TV commercials are not only able to emotionally persuade viewers, but the increase in advertising pressure from 436 to 443 index points is also a source of emotion. This growth is not only responsible for the increase in e-media from 413 to 418 index points, but also for the overall growth of the media covered by Media Focus by one index point to 199. In contrast, the advertising pressure of the Internet and radio each remained below expectations at 253 (256), while teletext lost three index points and now stands at 125 (128). According to Media Focus, data from one supplier is missing for the Internet. The index initiated by Goldbach Media is based 100 percent on the Media Focus data collected and published monthly.

 
The agency Startbahnwest has created advertising for Ovomaltine that can be seen on German and Austrian milk packaging. The Swiss dialect had to be used for this purpose, just as a German or Austrian would like to imitate it, and various versions were realized, some of which were linked to a competition, according to a press release issued on Thursday. The responses showed that the idea works in both Germany and Austria.
 
Responsible at Wander:
Christof Stulz (Marketing & Sales Manager), Eliane Albisser (Junior Product Manager). Responsible at Startbahnwest: Hartmut Vetter (Strategic Planning), Zoe Maritz, Yves Burgener (Consulting), Rüdiger Flothmann (Creative Direction), Christine Manger (Art Director), Gesine Dittrich (Graphics), Dominque Wirz (Text), Jlona Camenzind (DTP).

 
Watches II Jean-Claude Biver has turned Blancpain and Hublot into major brands. He explains why his marketing is different. 
He is the perfect showman. However, his business is not gags and dazzling effects, but elegant watches. And his world is not the small stage in the Swiss Jura, but the international high-end consumer goods market. Last year, Jean-Claude Biver generated a turnover of 250 million francs with his Swiss watch brand Hublot. 46 million of this is profit. He took over this gold mine in 2004, but his Hublot, with prices ranging from 14,000 Swiss francs to record auction prices of one million euros, is not made of gold or heavy platinum, but has a rubber strap and a case made of feather-light magnesium. The watch is - "The Art of Fusion" - a combination of past and future. And where two worlds collide, something new can sometimes emerge with the significance of a "big bang". In January, Jean-Claude Biver presented his successful watch marketing concept to the Zurich Advertising Club. The presentation was highly entertaining. After all, Biver was a member of the Swatch Group Executive Board for twelve years until 2003, where he was Head of Communications. His most important message now on his own behalf: "I must always do the opposite of what the specialists advise." A concrete example to illustrate this: if a sailing team can set off on a race with a slower boat five minutes after Alinghi's start, it will never catch up with Alinghi if it sails in its wake. But if the slower boat heads in a completely different direction, there may be a wind blowing that could help it to victory. "I always want to go in a direction where the others are not. That way I can win," Biver revealed. And applied to watches: "If I'm somewhere where nobody is, I have peace and quiet. I can speak very quietly and people can hear me. If I go where everyone is shouting loudly, nobody hears me."
In 1982, the son of a shoe retailer and economics graduate bought the luxury brand Blancpain after his first jobs at Audemars Piguet. Biver paid 18,000 francs for it, as the brand had not been on the market since 1959. But the label dated back to 1735, so why not relaunch this rarity with a quartz movement? All specialists in the 1980s would have done it this way, as the development history of other luxury brands shows. Biver did it differently. He had the old mechanical movements dug up once again, produced the only luxury brand at the time without newfangled quartz and was able to sell Blancpain to Hayek in 1992 "at a profit of millions".
Without a lot of money of your own - "because 18,000 francs is nothing" - you can enter this prestigious industry in Switzerland, joked Biver during his presentation. Yet this so-called industry is just a myth. In 2006, the Swiss watch industry generated a turnover of just CHF 13 billion. "This total turnover is the same as Nestlé's profit and perhaps half as much as UBS has to write off as a loss," Biver showed a little show talent again before presenting his next "big bang".
This model series from the Hublot collection is now considered a Swiss watch, but was "founded by Italians" in 1980, as Biver joked. And he also made fun of the fact that the translation of the Hublot brand is "Glubschauge". Who would buy a brand called "Glubschauge"? But it sounds elegant because it's French. And it doesn't matter that the bracelet is made of rubber. Just like the car tires that were still burned with a great stench back then. But even expensive bracelets made of cheap rubber are not the norm. And so Biver finally bought the Hublot brand in 2004, after it had become less and less fashionable since the mid-nineties and had recently posted a loss of 2.6 million francs. Why?
"In the luxury market, you can see that someone who spends 4,000 francs on a watch hardly ever buys a second one in the same year. The customer still doesn't come back in the third year." Someone who buys a watch for 20,000 francs and likes it, "buys at least three or four more after three months". You don't learn that in marketing school. But Biver has experienced it first-hand with Blancpain. Nowadays, you no longer buy a watch to be able to tell the time. "I feel sorry for the poor guy who spends 20,000 francs to be able to tell the time. That's why you have a cell phone."
With a watch in the luxury segment, people want to afford something different. "They want to fulfill a dream and buy a status symbol to do so." Just like the beautiful women who cruise through the flat streets of Paris in a Range Rover, even though they don't need four-wheel drive there. "A watch also shows who I am, what upbringing I have, what culture and what personality."
For this reason, after buying the Hublot brand, Biver had a watch built on which you can no longer see the time at all. His "All Black" had a black dial, black numerals and black hands. Biver called the creation "The Invisible Visibility". At the following watch fair, 2,727 pieces were ordered. However, Biver only had 250 delivered. Since then, the "All Black" has been available on the Internet for 22,000 francs.
The further development with "Big Bang" now aims to combine the tradition of watchmaking with the world of high-tech. A mechanical movement as before. But completely new materials. When Father Biver used to pick up a Blancpain, he could feel the richness. "Wow, platinum." The watch was heavy. When his son, who has "grown up in the 21st century", picks up a Hublot watch, he says: "Wow! Magnesium." The watch is light. Young people today experience that everything of value is small and light. Bicycles made of carbon and car brakes made of ceramic - this is the new world of high-end products. Hublot thus brings together materials "that do not normally belong together". This could "open up a new universe" for the future of the industry.
Jean-Claude Biver also brings together two seemingly completely incongruous worlds in advertising for his Hublot. He is sponsoring the popular Euro 08 football event with the luxury brand Hublot. Who is going to buy a 20,000 franc watch in the stadium? - Pop stars have their own football clubs, bank generals like to be celebrated as the owners of a successful team, as does the heiress of a chemical multinational and even a former Italian president. The stadiums are built by star architects. The players are sold for tens of millions. "Why shouldn't I sponsor Hublot in this environment?" Biver replied to the astonished marketing people from the advertising club. The myth of a brand is not created where it is sold. "Every child in the favelas of Rio knows the Ferrari brand. For millions of TV viewers, this car is a dream." But hardly anyone can afford such a car. This makes it all the more fulfilling for those who have really made it.
But Biver wouldn't have to be Biver if he took a completely different approach here too. A few days ago, he announced that he would be donating sponsorship space worth three to five million euros in the Euro stadiums to a foundation against racism. Posters from "Unite Against Racism" will flicker across screens worldwide instead of Hublot during the games.
 
 
Andreas Panzeri

 
Luxury In recent years, the Secret Service agent has worn a Seamaster from Omega. Fans of the secret agent as well as lovers of exclusive watches are eagerly awaiting the new version of this special timepiece. Omega will launch a special new edition of the Seamaster Diver 300 m James Bond, which has been worn by 007 since Goldeneye. The latest 007 film with director Marc Forster is scheduled for international release in November 2008. Daniel Craig can once again be seen as James Bond in what is now the 22nd film in the Bond series.

 Image advertising agency DSL in Frick is taking over advertising sales for the Swiss football magazine Eurosoccer with immediate effect. Eurosoccer is published by Zurich-based sports publisher Europa Medien with a circulation of 50,000 copies, according to a press release issued on Thursday. The magazine will present itself with various special editions before and during Euro 08.

 
Regional press The regionalization of the Tages-Anzeiger has not yet been able to halt the decline in readership. 
The Tages-Anzeiger is continuously losing readers. According to the latest Mach-Basic study by AG für Werbemedien forschung (Wemf), the loss in reach compared to the same period in 2007/2 amounts to 20,000 readers. However, the loss is not typical for the Tages-Anzeiger alone. "The number of readers of subscribed daily newspapers is falling everywhere, in Europe as well as in the English-speaking world," says Tamedia Group spokesman Christoph Zimmer. Changing user needs and the growing importance of electronic media are the reasons and not the free newspapers, as a look at Germany shows, where the classic commuter press does not exist. The figure for Tagi cannot be taken as absolute because the current reach (2008/1) cannot be compared with the two previous survey periods. This is because in February 2007, those responsible launched a large circulation and distribute around 178,000 additional copies every Tuesday in the greater Zurich region. This results in one survey period with and one without a large circulation. Nevertheless, one can speak of a downward trend in Tagi reach.
However, the Tages-Anzeiger is a phenomenon in that it has been pursuing a consistent regional growth strategy with its own regional editorial offices like no other title since 2006, after the prospect of becoming a national title was abandoned. It is becoming increasingly clear that the strategy, which is planned for a maximum of ten years, is one of small and minimal steps. "The regional editions of the Tages-Anzeiger will not change the general stagnation in readership figures in the medium term," Zimmer concludes. After one and a half years of continuous regionalization, this sounds sober. Since November 2006, the Tages-Anzeiger has included an additional daily regional edition from the Zürcher Unterland, the Oberland, both shores of Lake Zurich and the city of Zurich, which are produced by independent regional editorial teams.
The Tamedia strategists have created over 60 new jobs and are spending a lot of money on regionalization, estimated at between one and two million francs per editorial office per year. Added to this is the large circulation mentioned above, which is intended to bring the Zurich regional newspapers to their knees. But here, too, the hoped-for effect is hardly apparent. In any case, the competition, the Zürichsee-Zeitung, has so far not considered it necessary to react to the Tagi offensive with its own large circulation on the lake shores in the districts of Horgen and Meilen. The paper only has its own large circulation on the Obersee as a bulwark against Südostschweiz and Obersee-Nachrichten, in which Südostschweiz publisher Hanspeter Lebrument holds a majority stake. There have been small shifts in advertisers here and there, but to date the Tamedia strategy has not posed any immediate danger, according to those responsible at the Zürichsee-Zeitung.
It is therefore not surprising that the high costs of regionalization are repeatedly criticized within Tamedia. "There is no discussion about this," says Zimmer and emphasizes that the company is sticking with regionalization because it is convinced of the long-term strategy.
René Worni

 
Mach Basic II The Sunday edition of Südostschweiz is much more expensive than previously estimated When the Südostschweiz Media Group launched its seventh Sunday edition (SoSo) almost two years ago, it was still believed that the Sunday market would grow. With Mach Basic 2008-1, this dream has come to an end - all Sunday titles are losing reach. With one exception: SoSo has 83,000 readers for the first time - a respectable reach. Based on the 50,000 copies distributed (self-declaration), the SoSo now has 1.7 readers per copy (LpE). Nevertheless, the new figures are likely to sober people in Chur, as they previously assumed an estimated SoSo readership of 130,000 according to the rate documentation, which corresponds to a good 2.5 LpE. A proud figure, given that the weekday SO has a readership of 1.8 LpE. Publisher Hanspeter Lebrument regrets: At the time, on the advice of the Wemf, the aforementioned figure was assumed.
Either way, one problem remains: The 4c thousand-reader price, which is quoted at CHF 49.30, effectively comes to CHF 78.70 with the actual range. When asked, Lebrument left open the question of whether a rate reduction will now take place. What is clear, however, is that the distribution of SoSo is being accelerated. "Our goal is to reach the targeted 130,000 readers as quickly as possible," he says. SO subscribers who live outside the Sunday early delivery area will now also receive a Sunday edition. However, they will only receive the SoSo by post on Mondays.
Markus Knöpfli

 
Column We will continue to need reliable journalistic information in the future. But at what price will depend on the advertising industry's realization that advertisements in credible advertising media also bring more on the Internet. 
When America's newspaper publishers and editors-in-chief fly into Washington D.C. in mid-April for their joint annual conference, they will once again have to encourage each other. Circulation declines are accelerating and the advertising business is also miserable - not only due to the recession, but also because more and more classified ads are migrating to the Internet, never to be seen again: Americans are increasingly getting their news from the Internet - and clicking more and more frequently on the websites of the major newspapers. In addition, online offerings are continuing to see strong growth rates in advertising revenue. However, they are far from compensating for the losses in the traditional printed newspaper business. It is also annoying that the lion's share of clicks, and therefore advertising revenue, goes to free riders: Google, Yahoo and Co. who offer news on their portals without making an appropriate contribution to the editorial production costs.
According to this year's "Report on the State of the US Media" by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, the outlook for quality journalism is bleak: "The biggest problem facing traditional media is no longer where people get their information, but how to pay for it. It is becoming clear that the advertising industry is not moving into the online news world together with consumers. News offerings and advertising appear to be fundamentally decoupled," the report states. If this were true, it would not only be the printed daily newspaper that would permanently lose its financial basis, but also high-quality journalism in general.
My own impressions confirm the picture: many big-city newspapers have thinned out alarmingly in just a few years. Two examples: The San Francisco Chronicle often has only local news on page one. The following pages are a cheap blend of AP, New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post - a discontinued model. The paper has lost almost 30 percent of its circulation within four years. But the second big "metro paper" in the Bay Area, the San Jose Mercury News, which covers Silicon Valley, is also emaciated and only a shadow of its former self. Just a few years ago, it was celebrated as a trendsetter. He showed the way for what the future of newspapers could look like in the Internet age. He may still be doing so, but there will no longer be a future for the printed paper.
Even the "gray old lady", as the New York Times was once affectionately known, is irritating. Recently, she has been stalking the tabloids in a shrill outfit from time to time. First she tried to frame Republican presidential candidate McCain for having an affair with a lobbyist, without ultimately being able to prove it. Then she landed a "real" scoop and brought down New York Governor Spitzer. However, the important question of whether the sex scandal was not primarily a scandal because state investigating authorities ruthlessly violated the politician's privacy was lost in the media spectacle. The following day, America's number one media outlet instead reported on the prostitute with whom Spitzer had been having fun - with a photo gallery and details of her private life. In the maelstrom of scandal, the actual top news was practically overlooked: The commander of the US armed forces in the Middle East and therefore also in Iraq, William J. Fallon, had resigned - apparently in disagreement with the Bush administration.
Everything possible and impossible is being tried, but there seems to be no way out of the crisis in sight. Media expert Michele McLellan recently compared the newspaper industry to telephone manufacturers who are desperately adding new buttons to an old corded and push-button telephone, even though the iPhone has long been a competitor on the market. Unfortunately, the comparison is misleading: the iPhone has made the old technology superfluous. On the other hand, we will still need reliable journalistic information in the future - and will probably have to dig a little deeper into our pockets for it, unless the advertising industry rediscovers in time that advertisements on the Internet also bring more if they are distributed by particularly credible advertising media.
Stephan Russ-Mohl heads the European Journalism Observatory at the University of Lugano. 

 It is now official: Coop may take over the twelve Swiss Carrefour stores. This was announced by the Competition Commission Weko in a press release on Thursday. Although this will strengthen the duopoly of Migros and Coop, the Swiss market as a whole will remain under pressure from new competitors even after the takeover, writes the Competition Commission. The Sonntagszeitung newspaper had already reported this at the weekend, citing well-informed circles, and the reactions from Coop and the Swiss branded goods association Promarca were not long in coming. Promarca considers it positive that there is no unequal treatment of companies in the conditions of the ComCo's decision. However, the association criticizes the ComCo's assessment of the future market situation. Promarca considers it unlikely that Aldi and Lidl, with their small product ranges, will enable access for innovative branded products on the Swiss market. In addition, the merger of Coop and Carrefour would lead to a further reduction in the variety of products on offer for the end consumer.
Coop was relieved to note the ComCo's decision. According to the number two in the Swiss retail trade, an unconditional takeover would not have impaired the existing dynamic and price-active competitive situation in the Swiss market. If the situation changes significantly, for example due to the expansion of Aldi and the market entry of Lidl, Coop can, according to the decision, apply for the conditions to be lifted from January 1, 2010.
The Carrefour outlets are now to be converted into Coop Megastores as quickly as possible. This should give customers rapid access to the largest range of branded goods in Switzerland. As announced, Carrefour employees will be able to continue working for Coop within the framework of the collective labor agreement.

 
René Worni on the great hesitation in the Mittelland. 
After threatening gestures, nothing more concrete has been heard from Peter Wanner since late last fall. But you can literally feel how much the publisher of the Aargauer Zeitung is squirming under Tamedia's free offensive and struggling to make a decision. Rumor has it that he has already thought about selling his company. Although this is unlikely, it fits the image of a publisher who circles the floor in his study with his eyes downcast, calculating his options over and over again. Wanner is not alone in the trap. If he wants to react appropriately, he also has to convince his fellow publishers at Mittelland Zeitung that a new free title is the answer to Zurich's conquest of the Mittelland. But is it really? the latest news from AZ - investments in new online offerings (14 new jobs) and expansion of the forwarding facility in Aarau - now suggest that the boxed-in publisher has been able to bring himself to make certain decisions and is starting to get serious about launching his own free paper.
But can the publisher manage to support Switzerland's sixth free newspaper on its own? The signals from Baden that they are open to cooperation with other media companies speak volumes. Let's assume that talks (let's say with the NZZ) have not yet yielded any concrete results. So Wanner must first put the product on the table before he can invite others to join in. He is already doing this with his Sonntag title, which he is cleverly offering to the Neue Luzerner Zeitung, in which the NZZ holds a majority stake. Where Sonntag wants to establish itself nationally as the fourth Sunday newspaper, a new free title can only rely on AZ's local roots - above all out of consideration for its limited resources. The answer to News (and also to 20 Minuten, .ch and Blick am Abend) must therefore be strictly local. So why not convert the AZ's tabloid regional supplements into a free newspaper? But in view of the flood of free titles, which are particularly pleasing to media managers, one would like to call out to the publisher: Just don't
René Worni, Editor

 The Mediapulse Foundation for Media Research has taken over Publica Data from SRG with retroactive effect from January 1, 2008. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price, according to a press release issued on Thursday. The Mediapulse Group thus comprises the foundation and two companies: Mediapulse AG, which operates the large research systems for TV and radio, and Publica Data AG, which is responsible for marketing this data.
Independent media data collection is prescribed in the Radio and Television Act (RTVA), which has been in force since April 2007. At that time, the Mediapulse Foundation for Media Research was founded and the former SRG research service was the first to be integrated as Mediapulse AG. Following "lengthy but always amicable negotiations", it has now been agreed that Publica Data will also be added. It will remain as a single entity and will have the same Board of Directors as its sister company Mediapulse AG.
Publica Data was founded in October 1993 as a wholly owned subsidiary of SRG. Since then, it has marketed the data from Telecontrol and Radiocontrol to the private electronic media. In future, it will serve all users of electronic media research. Hardly anything will change for existing customers. All contractual relationships will be continued. The locations of Publica Data - Bern and Zollikon ZH - will remain the same.

 
Job Rotations Last June, Roberto Blank took over as advertising director at the daily newspaper *Südostschweiz*, but he has now already resigned. He refuses to confirm this, however. According to the official line, he is «still in talks with Lebrument,» says Blank. However, Lebrument has confirmed his impending departure. «This is a completely normal change. Some people stay longer, others shorter. Our turnover rate is six to eight percent,» says publisher Hanspeter Lebrument.However, it’s striking that nine executives have already left the Chur-based media company within about a year—Jürg Räber, Karin Waltenspühl, Andrea Götz, and Daniela Brunner, to name just a few. What’s going on? Lebrument reacts with slight irritation. He says he reduced the management team because there were «too many chiefs and not enough Indians» anyway. In addition, a few management positions were eliminated during the merger of SO Presse AG with SO Print AG and the restructuring of Südostschweiz Publicitas AG. (mk)